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Fresh market and processing tomatoes are an important segment of the U.S. agricultural economy grossing over $2.5 billion in 2008 with significant acreage in 16 states (NASS, 2009). Bacterial spot of tomato and pepper is a serious challenge in commercial production fields. U.S. growers faced with limited efficacy of current disease management strategies, increasing production costs, no significant improvement in yield, and increasing foreign competition, cannot continue to commit additional resources towards bacterial spot management without some assurance of a return in improved yields.

Plum pox virus (PPV) is an invasive pest species that causes plum pox, the most devastating viral disease of stone fruit species. PPV first appeared in the United States in Pennsylvania in October 1999 and then New York and Michigan in July 2006. It was also discovered in Ontario, Canada in June 2000. The virus reduces fruit yield, marketability, and shortens the productive lifespan of orchards. Its economic impact is estimated to be several million dollars in the United States.

Citrus greening or Huanglongbing (HLB) is a devastating disease of citrus worldwide (Gottwald et al., 2007). HLB is particularly devastating because of its severe yield reduction in citrus trees followed by tree decline, the absence of resistant citrus varieties, and the limited control measures to prevent disease progression and pathogen spread by the vector, Asian citrus psyllid (ACP, Diaphorina citri). At its current rate of spread and impact on the economics of citrus production, HLB could destroy the US citrus industry in our lifetimes. With current management technology, early detection is critical to the rapid response needed to slow the spread of the disease.

Imagine this scene: You are outside of your home admiring a healthy and vibrant planting of boxwood that is a central part of your landscape. You notice a few leaves with brown spots, but nothing that appears overly abnormal. Over the next few weeks, the weather turns cool and rainy. When you look at the plants again you see that the few brown leaves have exploded into a rapidly moving blight that has consumed much of the plant. By the end of the summer your boxwood plants are dead. What has happened? And, more importantly, why has this happened?

Each day, the work of USDA scientists and researchers touches the lives of all Americans, from the farm field to the kitchen table and from the air we breathe to the energy that powers our country. USDA science is on the cutting edge, helping to protect, secure, and improve our food, agricultural and natural resources systems. Studies have shown that every dollar invested in agricultural research now returns over $20 to our economy, making USDA resources an extraordinarily wise investment in our nation’s future.